The plaza is more crowded at night because of the oppressive daytime heat. People here take advantage of the cooler night hours to go out, eat, socialize, etc. The labyrinth of souks (stalls) is open all day but the food vendors who operate in the open square are only open in the evening.
There are tourists everywhere, of course, but there are also punk kids whizzing by on scooters, women in burqhas, families, snake charmers, acrobats, musicians, etc., etc.
The city itself is beautiful and quite safe. I felt safer here than in Baltimore, which is a sad, sad observation. All the buildings are a pale pink. There's very little trash in the street. People on the street pay no attention to tourists, which is a bit odd considering how aggressive the scammers in the market are.
I had been warned repeatedly that the hustlers and scammers in Marrakech are especially difficult to deal with, so I prepared myself. Or so I thought. To begin with, I hate haggling. I think the charms of haggling are overrated. Saying part of the charm of visiting a market is haggling with scammers is like saying part of of the charm of driving is crashing headfirst into a bridge abutment.
Tonight I catch an overnight train to Tangier, and from there I plan to take the ferry across the Strait of Gibraltar into Spain.
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